Nurses, Doctors Support the St. Rose Initiative to Save San Leandro Hospital

Registered nurses, physicians, and local elected officials have joined with Senate Majority Leader Ellen M. Corbett (D-San Leandro) in support of a plan put forward by St. Rose Hospital in Hayward to keep San Leandro Hospital running as a full-service facility, the California Nurses Association announced. The proposal will be discussed at a town hall meeting hosted by Corbett, the California Nurses Association, Mayor Stephen Cassidy, and San Leandro hospital physicians, tomorrow at 6:00 p.m.

Patients, nurses, elected officials, and the public reacted with disbelief and outrage when Sutter Health, who currently runs the facility, announced its intention to close San Leandro Hospital in 2009. Residents of the greater San Leandro community have turned out in large numbers at every opportunity to protest plans by Sutter to close the facility.

After the Eden Township Healthcare District Board (ETHDB), who owns the hospital, voted to deny Sutter’s bid to purchase the hospital, Sutter Health announced that they were transferring ownership of the hospital to Alameda County, with plans to shut it down and make it a rehabilitation facility.

Sen. Ellen Corbett, the California Nurses Association, and grassroots community organizations responded with a renewed push to save San Leandro Hospital, and maintain emergency and acute-care services. St. Rose Hospital has made a bid to manage the facility and maintain all current services, including an emergency department

“Closing or downgrading this community-based hospital would exacerbate the medical inequalities that already exist,” said Carol Barazi, a registered nurse who works at San Leandro Hospital. “The patient population of SLH reflects the diversity of the surrounding city, which consists of sizable numbers of African-Americans, Latinos and Asians. We should be increasing medical services rather than diminishing a historic hospital that has well served its citizens. The health care safety net is already frayed; can we in good conscience unravel it further?”

Town Hall Meeting: How San Leandro Hospital Can Be SavedDate: Tuesday, May 17th, 2011Time: 6:00 pm - 7:30 pmPlace: San Leandro Senior Community Center13909 East 14th Street, San Leandro